Chapter 4 - THE GIRL WHO WASN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST
I laughed.
It wasn't a happy sound.
It was the kind of laugh that escapes when your mind refuses to accept what it's hearing.
“That's ridiculous.”
Dante didn't answer.
“My father raised me.”
“Yes.”
“He taught me how to ride a bicycle.”
“I know.”
“He stayed up all night when I had pneumonia.”
Dante nodded.
“He was your father in every way that mattered.”
I stepped backward.
“Then what are you telling me?”
He looked at the letter.
“Thomas Whitaker and his wife Sarah took you in when you were very young.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Your biological mother was in danger.”
“Who was she?”
Dante hesitated.
“Her name was Eleanor Hale.”
I stared at him.
“Hale?”
He nodded.
My mouth went dry.
“Victor Hale's wife?”
“Yes.”
The room tilted.
I sat down hard.
“No.”
Dante knelt in front of me.
“Emma—”
“Don't touch me.”
He stopped immediately.
I stared at the floor.
“My mother was Sarah Whitaker.”
“She was.”
“She loved me.”
“I know.”
“She was my mother.”
Dante's voice softened.
“Nothing changes that.”
Tears streamed down my face.
I looked up.
“Did you know?”
His silence answered before his words did.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Eleven years.”
I felt something inside me break.
“You've known since my father died?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“Thomas asked me to protect the secret.”
I stood.
“Get out.”
Dante looked wounded.
“Emma—”
“Get out of my house.”
He rose slowly.
For a moment, I thought he would argue.
Instead, he nodded.
“I'm sorry.”
I laughed bitterly.
“That's not enough.”
“I know.”
He walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Whatever you think of me, please don't stay here without protection.”
I looked away.
“Goodbye, Dante.”
He left.
I stood in the kitchen for a long time.
Then I picked up my father's letter.
Family is not always determined by blood.
I read the sentence again.
And again.
Until the words blurred.
That night, I cried for the parents I'd lost.
For the mother I'd never known.
May you like
And for the man I'd begun to trust.
The man who had just broken my heart before he'd even kissed me.
